Saruman
Saruman (Quenya; IPA: 'saruman - "Man Of Skill"), also known as Saruman the White '''and '''Sharkey was an Istar (wizard), who lived in Middle-earth during the Third Age. Originally, he was the chief of the wizards and of the White Council that opposed Sauron. His extensive studies of dark magic, however, eventually led him to desire the One Ring for himself. Thinking he could join with Sauron and then either betray him or become his chief servant, Saruman allied Isengard with Mordor in the War of the Ring, in which he was defeated. He studied deeply the arts of Sauron, the better to oppose him, but he soon became enamored of Sauron's devices, especially the One Ring. He betrayed his mission and sought the power of the Ring for himself. Saruman initially kept the façade of a genuine allegiance Sauron, but he soon betrayed his new master as well, as his ultimate goal was to supplant Sauron and rule Middle-earth. But his plans came to nought, and his power was broken in the Battle of the Hornburg and the Battle of Isengard. Before his fall, he was the chief of both the wizards and of the White Council (a league of all those opposed to Sauron). His knowledge and skill, especially of Sauron's devices, was said to be great. However, his deep study of the One Ring and Sauron's other magic corrupted him, and his overweening lust for power led to his downfall. He is one of the few characters in Middle-earth who is morally "grey" - serving neither good nor evil. He betrays both sides and ultimately works for his own ends. Biography Years of the Lamps Saruman was originally a Maia of Aulë the Smith - just as Sauron had once been - named Curumo, meaning "skillful one", or Curunír by the elves in Sindarin. In Valinor, the land of the Valar, a council was called by Manwë, leader of the Valar, shortly after Sauron's defeat by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Though Sauron was overthrown, it would later turn out that he had not been effectively vanquished and his shadow began to fall upon Middle-earth a second time. It was decided to send five emissaries to Middle-earth. These should be "mighty, peers of Sauron, yet forgo might, and clothe themselves in flesh," as they were intended to help Men and Elves unite against Sauron, but the wizards were forbidden from matching the Dark Lord in power and fear. The other four who were chosen were Olórin (Gandalf), Aiwendil (Radagast), and Alatar and Pallando (the Blue Wizards). Curumo was appointed overall leader of the group. Third Age Arrival in Middle-earth The five wizards arrived at the Grey Havens in the west of Eriador around the year 1000. Only the keeper of the havens, Círdan the Shipwright, knew Saruman's identity and origin. Saruman would later discover that Círdan had given Narya, the Red Ring, to Gandalf upon their first landing in Middle-earth. Even though Saruman was immediately considered the head of the order while Gandalf was not, Círdan had divined Gandalf as the wisest and greatest of the wizards. Saruman's jealousy of Gandalf grew from these events, perhaps because he feared that he would eventually supplant him as chief of wizards. Saruman and the two Blue Wizards went into the east of Middle-earth. After one and a half millennia, he returned to the west, just as Sauron's power was growing again in Dol Guldur. The White Council When the White Council was formed at approximately year 2463 of the Third Age in order to counter Sauron, Saruman was appointed its leader, though Galadriel wanted Gandalf in this position. Saruman refused to step down due to his pride, while Gandalf had declined. At this point Saruman had begun to sense the resurgence of Sauron and to envy and desire his power, and especially the One Ring. This was also the same year that the One Ring was taken by the Halfling Sméagol (later called Gollum), who disappeared with it into the Misty Mountains for hundreds of years. It was during the meetings of the Council that Saruman first noted Gandalf's interest in Hobbits and The Shire, and believing that all his deeds related to some as yet undisclosed plan of his for self-enhancement, Saruman himself began keeping a greater watch on Gandalf and sent spies to The Shire. At first, he himself visited it secretly but stopped when he realized that its inhabitants had noticed him. Amongst the purposes of his visits was to procure some of the halflings' Pipe-weed, since in secret imitation of Gandalf he had begun to smoke. At Isengard In the year TA 2759, Saruman settled in Isengard with the permission of the Steward of Gondor, Beren, although he settled only as Warden of the Tower and representative of the Steward (the stronghold had by then been abandoned by Gondor). There he became important in the informal alliance defending the west of Middle-earth. In the tower of Isengard, Orthanc, he also found one of the remaining Palantíri. In TA 2850, Gandalf entered Dol Guldur and confirmed that the evil presence was indeed Sauron. By Saruman's advice, the White Council decided against attacking Dol Guldur. Gandalf would later remark that it was at this council meeting that he first began to suspect that Saruman desired to possess the One Ring. Saruman's real intention was to permit Sauron to build up his strength, so that the One Ring would reveal itself. He later found that Sauron had more knowledge of the possible location of the One Ring than he expected, and in TA 2941, Saruman finally agreed to attack Dol Guldur. The attack was successful, and by the devices of Saruman, Sauron was driven from the fortress. Ten years after Sauron abandoned Dol Guldur, he returned to Mordor and declared himself openly. He established contact with Saruman through the Palantír captured from Minas Ithil, which had since become known as Minas Morgul. The White Wizard lost the contest of wills with the Dark Lord and was enticed, becoming a servant of Sauron. He no longer opposed him, but desired his victory (though he retained his desire for the Ruling Ring). In preparation for the war, Saruman amassed a mighty army of Orcs, Uruk-hai, Half-orcs, wicked Men and Wolves within Isengard and kept up the façade of his allegiance to Sauron while searching for the Ring. Little did he know that his master was already aware of his thoughts, despite having failed to dominate him fully. When Gandalf presented Saruman with the discovery and the location of the One Ring, Saruman revealed his desire for it and his allegiance to Sauron. He had also shed the title of Saruman the White; Saruman no longer had any loyalty to the White Council, or the Ring-bearer. He tried unsuccessfully to gain Gandalf's aid. When Gandalf refused to join with either him or Sauron, Saruman held him captive in Isengard. Gandalf later escaped with help from Gwaihir the Windlord, one of Middle-earth's large Eagles, and made Saruman's treachery known to the rest of the White Council. The Beginning of the End in his tower, Orthanc]] By one account, the Nazgûl came two days after Gandalf's escape and Saruman used his Voice to persuade the Lord of the Nazgûl that he did not know the Ring's location but that Gandalf did and they should seek him nearby. After the Nazgûl heard this they went back on the main road rode along and instead found Gríma Wormtongue (who was on his way to tell Saruman that Gandalf had been to Edoras) who revealed that Saruman was hiding his knowledge of the Shire from them, proving that the wizard's allegiance to Sauron was as genuine as he outright presented it. By another account, Saruman only discovered that Gandalf had escaped when the Nazgûl arrived. He had been, according to this account, about to beg Gandalf for forgiveness and help, only to find him gone. To evade the danger at hand and enticed by the thought of being Sauron's servant alone or gaining the Ring, he pretended that Gandalf was still there and that the latter had just been forced to tell the location of the Shire. The Nazgûl later learned that Saruman knew far more than he had revealed. On their way to the Shire, the Nazgûl met one of the wizard's informants in Eriador, from whom they got detailed maps of the Shire made by Saruman. They sent the spy back to the Shire after warning him that he was now in the service of Mordor (the Dunlending in the Inn of the Prancing Pony). Believing that he would find no pity from either quarter (a false assumption, since he was later offered pardon by Gandalf) and that he had lost his master's favour (given how Sauron was now aware of his treachery); Saruman now put all efforts into obtaining the One Ring for himself. Not all of these efforts ever became known, but they included sending spies to waylay Frodo Baggins on his flight from the Shire (Bill Ferny in Bree), attacking Rohan outright with Orcs and dispatching raiding parties of Uruk-hai accompanied by Orcs from the Misty Mountains on likely routes the Fellowship of the Ring might take through Rohan to go towards Gondor. One of those companies captured Pippin and Merry and shot Boromir "with many black-feathered arrows" when he tried to defend the Hobbits. This led Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli on a search which eventually led to the Battle of Helms Deep as well as the Destruction of Isengard by the Ents under Treebeard, leading to Sauron losing one of his most potent servants and the end of Saruman's reign of terror in the north. Power destroyed from the Pinnacle of Orthanc]] Following the Ents' destruction of Isengard, Saruman found himself confined to Orthanc and his servants scattered or killed. After the arrival of Théoden, Gandalf, Aragorn, and the remaining members of the Fellowship, Saruman made one final unsuccessful attempt to turn Théoden and Gandalf over to evil. The latter then offered Saruman a chance for redemption, which involved surrendering his staff and the Keys of Orthanc as a pledge. Saruman had a moment of doubt but in the end pride, anger, and hate won over and he refused the chance of redemption. Gandalf, who had returned from death to supplant Saruman, as the White and the head of the Wizard, expelled Saruman from the order and broke his staff. Saruman also lost the Palantír of Orthanc when Gríma Wormtongue threw it off a balcony of Orthanc, undecided about which he hated more, Saruman or Gandalf, and hitting neither. Final fall Left out of the final stages of the War of the Ring, Saruman eventually managed to persuade the Ents who kept him captive into letting him leave Isengard after he met the conditions of handing over the Keys of Orthanc. He then went to the Shire, which his agent Lotho Sackville-Baggins had brought under control. He spent his final days as a small-time criminal master in Hobbiton known as Sharkey (from the Orkish sharkû, meaning "old man"), until he was overthrown in the Battle of Bywater. In the aftermath of that battle Frodo confronted Saruman and exiled him from the Shire, but before he could leave, Gríma Wormtongue killed Saruman by slitting his throat with a dagger, on the very doorstep of Bag End. Legacy After his departure from Orthanc, King Elessar entered the tower with the intent of re-ordering that realm. Inside, Elessar's men found many treasures that Saruman had conned off of King Théoden. There was a secret closet that could only be found with the aid of Gimli; it contained the original Elendilmir, which had presumed to be lost forever when Isildur perished in the Gladden Fields, as well as a golden chain which was presumed to have once borne the One Ring.The Lord of the Rings Fate Saruman, being a Maia, did not truly die. His spirit separated from his body much like Sauron's after the Downfall of Númenor. As an incorporeal spirit, he should have been called to the Halls of Mandos, but the tale implies that he was barred from returning. Tolkien indicated that his spirit was left naked, powerless and wandering, never to return to Middle-earth: Names *'Curumo' is the Quenya name for Saruman. Its Tengwar spelling is , and its IPA pronunciation is . *'Curunír' is the Sindarin name for Saruman the White. It roughly translates to mean "man of skill". Curunir was the original name given to Saruman as the leader of the Wizards, or Istari, who first came to Middle-earth to combat the evils of Sauron. Late in the Third Age around the time of the War of the Ring, this name was less known and rarely used save among the Elves and even rarely used by them except for their leaders, such as Elrond in Rivendell, Celeborn and Galadriel in Lothlórien, and Círdan at the Grey Havens. *'Saruman '''as called by Gandalf, Men in Rohan, and Men in most other places. *'Sharku''' is the name given to him by his Uruk-Hai meaning in Black Speech "Old Man". *'Sharkey,' a form of the word is later used by the Ruffians at the Shire, from "Sharku". Powers and abilities Saruman's status as chief of the Wizards and head of the White Council (before Gandalf) gave him arsenal to a variety of powers. Though he would eventually be defeated by Gandalf the White, Saruman's powers and abilities were very mighty indeed at the peak of his power, and he managed to imprison Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf described Saruman as an individual of great knowledge, cunning, and skill. He was capably of breeding his own Uruk-hai, and had many spies, be they walking on two legs or birds, that escaped detection. He was extremely learned in Ringlore and mechanics, and his knowledge enabled him to create great forges and explosives that could breach the walls of Helm's Deep and burn an Ent to death. Unfortunately, it was Saruman's extensive knowledge of the Rings of Power that led to his downfall, as he became enamored of the power of the rings, and particularly the One Ring. He was well-versed in magic, one spell he displayed giving speed and strength to the Orcs who had kidnapped Merry and Pippin while obstructing Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. By far Saruman's greatest power (and the only one he was able to retain after the downfall of Isengard), however, is speech. He seems to have the ability to bend any but the absolute strongest minds to his will, simply by speaking to them. Even with Isengard broken and Saruman's treachery revealed, Gandalf had to be very careful, Saruman could ensnare almost anyone with the power of his voice, few can contend with his will. Gandalf was not drawn into this power when he confronted Saruman; in trying to enchant some in the company, he left others out of his designs, and thus could not ensnare everyone at once. However, even in this situation, it is said that only Gandalf himself remained totally unmoved. Aragorn stated during this time that few other than Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel could resist his voice, even at this point. Saruman later used his persuasive power to escape Orthanc, convincing Treebeard to let him go. Appearances In the books *''The Fellowship of the Ring'' *''The Two Towers'' *''The Return of the King'' *''The Silmarillion'' *''Unfinished Tales'' *''The History of Middle-earth'' In the films *''An Unexpected Journey'' *''The Battle of the Five Armies'' *''The Fellowship of the Ring'' *''The Two Towers'' *''The Return of the King'' (extended edition) Portrayal in adaptations Lord of the Rings film trilogy In Peter Jackson's film trilogy, Saruman is played by Sir Christopher Lee and is the secondary antagonist of The Fellowship of the Ring and primary antagonist of The Two Towers. Unlike in the novels, he is portrayed as an outright second-in-command or "puppet" of Sauron and is referred to only as "the White," omitting his title of "Saruman of Many Colours." His desire is not to gain the One Ring for himself, but become, by terrible means, the chief servant of Sauron himself (he doesn't only oppose his victory but seeks it). Lee is the only cast member to ever have met Tolkien. By the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, Saruman has become convinced that Sauron's victory is the future of Middle-earth; as such, he has sworn his allegiance to the Dark Lord. When Gandalf refuses to join with them, he imprisons him in Orthanc. Instructed by his master to build him "an army worthy of Mordor", Saruman gathers his Orcs and begins the preparations for war: constructing dams and wooden machinery, fortifying the ringed walls of Isengard, forging arms and breeding Uruk-hai. He confronts Gandalf once more atop Orthanc, trying to coerce him into submitting to Sauron, only for the Grey Pilgrim to flee. Saruman tracks the Fellowship using Crebain and summons massive snow avalanches and rock-slides to try and hinder the heroes at Caradhras. Uruk-hai in service to Saruman attack the Fellowship at the conclusion of the film, killing Boromir and capturing Merry and Pippin. In The Two Towers, Saruman leads his lord Sauron's conquest in the West of Middle-earth. He allies himself with the Dunlendings who join Orc parties and burn the Westfold, then amasses an Uruk-hai army of 10,000 to destroy Rohan. He is aided by Gríma Wormtongue and is depicted as having outright possessed Théoden. At the climax of the film, Saruman's army is defeated at Helm's Deep and Isengard is overrun by Ents. Saruman does not appear in the theatrical cut of The Return of the King; Treebeard only suggests that the fallen wizard's power is no more. In the extended edition, Gandalf, Aragorn, Théoden, Gimli, Merry and Pippin confront Saruman in Isengard at the beginning of the film. Gandalf wishes to interrogate Saruman, but Gríma stabs Saruman at the pinnacle of Orthanc. As Saruman falls to his death, he drops the Palantir. The Scouring of the Shire, which is where Saruman meets his end in the novels, is entirely omitted from the film adaptations. Jackson considered the Scouring anticlimactic. Peter Jackson's trilogy explicitly shows Saruman influencing the weather to create the snowstorm on Caradhras that defeated the Fellowship's efforts to cross the mountains there, although the book didn't even suggest that. Though Boromir thought the storm and falling boulders might be caused by some evil, saying "there are fell voices on the air; and these stones are aimed at us," Aragorn and Gandalf believed it was just the forces of nature that might be expected on "Caradhras the Cruel."The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter III: "The Ring goes South" In the extended edition, he was also seen to shoot a fireball at Gandalf and others soon before his end in the trilogy. In the film trilogy, Saruman's staff of power is a replica of his own tower of Orthanc, with a white crystal set between the spires. As a talisman of his authority, it is also used as a walking stick. He uses it to duel Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf the White destroys Saruman's staff effortlessly in The Return of the King extended edition. The Hobbit film trilogy Sir Christopher Lee reprised his role as Saruman in Peter Jackson's live action Hobbit trilogy. He originally expressed interest in voicing Smaug the dragon, but the role ended up going to Benedict Cumberbatch. Christopher Lee also managed to humour Peter Jackson by asking him "Am I still in the movie?" This refers to when Christopher Lee's (Saruman's) death scene was cut from the theatrical version of The Return of the King and he had a falling out with Peter Jackson all those years ago. Saruman first appears in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. He arrives in Rivendell for a meeting of the White Council. Saruman expresses his disapproval of Gandalf's actions concerning the quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and dismisses Gandalf's reasons as 'looking for trouble where none exists'. He is skeptical of the information Gandalf provides on the Necromancer and he further dismisses the information when he learns it came from Radagast the Brown, who he believes is a fool and an embarrassment to the Istari due to his consumption of mushrooms. When presented with the Morgul blade, Saruman states there is no proof that it belonged to the Witch-king of Angmar. Saruman sums up all of Gandalf's concerns as nothing to worry about but states that he feels he cannot condone the quest of the Dwarves to reclaim Erebor. However, unbeknownst to Saruman, the Dwarves have already left Rivendell. In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Saruman arrives at Dol Guldur along with Elrond, after being summoned there by Galadriel, to rescue Gandalf. Saruman appears as Galadriel and Gandalf are surrounded by the Nazgûl and asks if she needs assistance. At this, two of the Nazgûl turn towards him and both he and Elrond begin to battle with the Nine. Saruman duels several of the Ringwraiths, appearing to be able to handle up to two at a time. In the end, both he and Elrond overpower the Nine and they retreat momentarily. After Gandalf is taken away by Radagast, Sauron appears before the remainder of the White Council along with the returning Nazgûl. Saruman readies himself for further battle but appears to be paralyzed with awe of Sauron's power. Galadriel rises in a terrifying ethereal form and begins a battle of wills with Sauron. Saruman barely seems to notice this, still stunned in amazement of Sauron. Galadriel eventually gains the upper hand and banishes Sauron from Dol Guldur. After recovering from his shock, Saruman notes that while Galadriel has banished Sauron, it took nearly all of her power to do it and tells Elrond to take her back to Lothlórien, When Elrond argues that Sauron must be found and permanently destroyed, Saruman replies that without the One Ring, Sauron will never regain his full strength. He then tells them to go and 'leave Sauron to me.' This is most likely the point, where Saruman begins his fall into evil. Although he spoke of Sauron not regaining his full power, Saruman was clearly dumbfounded after witnessing his power first hand, foreshadowing his eventual loss of any hope of defeating him and his eventual pledge of allegiance to Sauron. There is also a song called "The Voice of Saruman" created by the heavy metal band called "Lorien." Ralph Bakshi version 's version of The Lord of the Rings.]] In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film of The Lord of the Rings, Fraser Kerr provided the voice of Saruman. At one point in that film's development, film executives thought that the names "Saruman" and "Sauron" were too similar, and would confuse the audience, and decided that Saruman should be renamed "Aruman". This decision was eventually reversed, but some references to "Aruman" remained in the finished film. The dialogue of Bakshi's film retained Saruman's adoption of the title "Saruman of Many Colours", and the character was dressed in red. In Ralph Bakshi's animated film, Saruman sends a swirling stream of magical fire from Isengard to Helm's Deep to blow apart the ramparts and walls of Helms Deep. Radio version Peter Howell played Saruman in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation of The Lord of the Rings. Voice dubbing actors Video Games The Battle for Middle Earth The evil campaign of BFME begins with Isengard's betrayal and early service to Sauron, and then continues with Saruman's conquest of Rohan signified by the fall of Helm's Deep and the deaths of Théoden and Éomer. In BFME II and its expansion ROTWK, Saruman does not take part in the campaign since BFME II shows the War in the North. While ROTWK is before Saruman's arrival in Middle Earth, in all games however, he does appear as the main hero for Isengard in skirmish battles. Saruman starts off with the standard wizard blast power which can destroy an entire battalion of infantry (Without armor upgrades) His second ability was a fireball, very useful for blasting away heroes and flyers. His third power was called "Wormtounge" this ability allows Saruman to gain control of units with the power of his voice (Note: This power was temporary the units will return to their original faction after a minute or so. However if the player commands the controlled unit to attack and destroy an enemy building the unit remains in Saruman's possession) His next power was Speechcraft. This allows friendly units to gain a major boost in experience. His final power was Lightning Blast, in which Saruman casts down a mighty lightning strike that can decimate infantry (With armor upgrades). The Lord of the Rings: Conquest In one of the early missions of the game, Isengard is attacked by the Ents and the Rohirrim soldiers and once Isengard is captured the Rohirrim and Ents are free to help reclaim Isengard for the forces of light and overthrow Saruman and his evil forces. Later in the mission, the player gets to take control of Gandalf, and is lead up through the stairs inside the tower of Orthanc to confront Saruman in a duel and the player must kill Saruman in order to be successful in the Good Campagin, the setting is the same as seen in "The Fellowship of the Ring", however this time Gandalf is on an equal level of power if not stronger than Saruman. Once the player succeds in killing Saruman, then the player can move on. However in the evil campaign, Sauron regains the One Ring. His power streches enough that he recalls his most potent servants (including Saruman and the Witch-king) and his allies. Later Saruman is sent with a large army to retake the frail city of Minas Tirith, Saruman is at the front line of the evil force breaking through the ranks of Gondor's soldiers as he reaches out to complete his objective of destroying (burning) the white tree and does so (fulfilling the vision Pippin had seen). Later we see Saruman at Weathertop, where Aragorn with the aid of Gondor, the ents and the eagles making a last stand against the forces of evil, standing in the way of Rivendell and The Shire. Saruman is sent to Kill Aragorn, who stands at the peak of Weathertop waiting. Saruman succeeds in killing Aragorn and the force moves out to destroy Rivendell. In the game, Saruman's Staff is exactly the same as the Mouth of Saurons, it could be that the Mouth of Sauron had one made similar, or that Saruman was resurrected with the staff, this however is unclear. Saruman's specialty in the game is the area attack, where he will strike the staff against the floor and punch the ground sending out two shock waves, much more powerful and causing more damage than the standard mage. His melee attack is also quick and swift, and his magic and glow of the staff is purple. The Lord of the Rings Online In The Lord of the Rings Online, Saruman can be seen inside the Tower of Orthanc, both during the "Epic Quest" involving Isengard and the "instances" set inside and under the Tower, in the depths. He can also be seen once in the Dunlending village of Avardin. Lego: The Lord of the Rings In the game, Saruman is a playable character with unique abilities. Saruman's staff can levitate specific Lego objects, provide light in dark places, shoot energy bolts and conjure up a magical barrier. He can be found atop of Orthanc in which you must use a variety of characters to ascend Orthanc. He can be purchased for 500,000 studs. Lego: The Hobbit In Lego: The Hobbit, Saruman is able destroy silver lego objects and can be found near Rivendell. See Also *Fire of Orthanc Gallery Translations References ca:Sàruman de:Saruman es:Saruman fr:Saroumane it:Saruman nl:Saruman pl:Saruman pt-br:Saruman, o Branco ru:Саруман sk:Saruman Category:Maiar Category:Wizards Category:Villains Category:White Council Category:Servants of Sauron Category:The Lord of the Rings Characters Category:Major characters (The Lord of the Rings) Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film) Characters Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film) Characters Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film) Characters Category:Characters that have appeared in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Category:The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Characters Category:The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Characters